<p>I cannot add more to the excellent advices from the above posting. But I want to emphasis the importance of office hours. If the professor has office hours go to each and every one of them. don’t be lazy.</p>
<p>The other advice for the first timers in college I want to give is that you should not take the full load and the hardest course in the first semester of the college. Once you messed up the first year GPA, its difficult to play catchup. We intentionally asked our d to take only 3 units in her first quarter, that is much less of a load than 4 to 5 units everyone else is doing. Here first quarter did not do well, a 3.2 ish, but she is doing well now with most A or A-. There is an adjustment period for HS kids who go to college.</p>